Ore-concentrating method.



,A. SCHWARZ. ORE GONCENTRATING METHOD.

APPLICATION vFILED JAN.I7.1917.

1,23?,% 1 Patented Ailg.- 21, 1917.

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UNITED 1 srnras rarau'r ornrcn.-

ALFRED SCHWARZ, F 'JOPLIN', MISSOURI, ASSIGN OR TO METALS RECOVERYCOMPANY,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

ORE-CONCENTRATING- METHOD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

-- Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

Application filed January 17, 1917. "serial No. 142,917.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED SCHWARZ, a subject of the Emperor of Germany,resid ing at Joplin, in the county of Jasper andhave invented certain'State of Missouri, new and useful Improvements in Ore-ConcentratinMethods, of which the following is a spec cation.

.have found Heretofore ores and metalliferous substances have beenseparated into their con- 1 stituents, that is,

metal or mineral portions from the gangue by-means of the well knownaflinity therefor of certain oily or similar hydrocarbons or'hydrocarbonmixtures, or resinous or other similar selective agents by agitating theore pulp and water with air and forming a foam or froth, such frothcarrying the metalliferous substances to the surface of the water,whereafter such mineral particles carried with the froth were separatedfrom the pulp and the water and gangue by skimming, overflowing andsimilar means. Air, however, agent and in some cases acts-destructivelyupon the hydrocarbon used and the great quantities of'air forced throughthe solution volatilize a certain portion of the hydrocarbon.Furthermore, air in no wise benefits the process other than as a liftingagent.

ereas, during a series of experiments, I that gases other thanair aresometimes more closely related to the ingredients, and when intended toact upon the mineral or gangue content of the ore, will benefit theprocess of flotation. It has been suggested heretofore, and I havementioned 1t in' one of my previous patents Number ate gas within thepul use of solid or liquid hydrocarbon and gases or resinous or othersimilar selective agents,

-bon,

without the influence of the component parts of the air. The type ofgases to be used may be different in the treatment of different ores andwith the use of different hydrocaror other selective agent. There may bealso mixtures of gases used according to the chemical eflects desired.In some cases it may be desirable to use an unfixed-gas cais anoxidizing ner tion pumplng devices to circulate the gasin the 100 pa'bleof complete or partial condensation. In the process imelf, volatileportions of the hydrocarbon, or other selective agent, used arecarriedconstantly through the ore pulp and are so-caused to actcontinually upon the ore, whereas, in the previous methods such volatileportions were carried out through the air and lost. In the foregoingdescription, when I refer to hydrocarbon I not only mean to includecompounds which are composed exclusively of hydrogen and carbon, butalso hydrocarbon derivatives and compounds, and resins and other agentswhich are sometimes classed among the hydrocarbons. Illustrating theprocess in a specific case I will give the following example:

In one of my previous patents, Number 807,501, dated December 19, 1905,I have described the conversion of carbonate and oxids of metals intosulfids or the surface coating of the same by means of the use ofsoluble sulfids, and in practice I have used hydrogen sulfid gas tocause the said conversion. I have' found, however, that the presence ofexcessive quantities ofair sometimes renders the process diflicult tocarry out, whereas, when the air is excluded from the operation-andeither hydrogen sulfid gas or a mixture of hydrogen sulfid gas and othergases is used, this will not only eliminate the detrimental action ofthe air agitation or of air otherwise carried into the process, but willenable the operator to control certain chemical re-actions beneficial tothe said process.

In carrying out my invention I may use any one of the known flotationmachines sealing the same, however, against the atmospheric air thuspermitting only such gas mixtures as may be desired in the treatment, toenter the flotation cell bysuitable means at will of theoperator. Inthis man- I. may use in connection with the flotacell one or more gasreceivers, suitable system, andtaking the excess gas used in the cell,and pumping same back into a" receiver or in any other portion of thecircuit where same-may be desired. It ,is obvious of course, volatileportions of the oils or hydrocarbon mixtures used will be retainedwithin the closed circuit and in re-using the gas will reenter thesystem and in this manner a considerable saving and preservation of the110 that in this manner any is charged into the Pachuca tank'from thetion machine modified to carryout my proc-= ess. In the drawing similarreference characters refer to corresponding partsthroughout the severalviews, Figure 1 thereof be ing a central verticalsection of the malochine, parts beingshown in elevation; and.

Fig. 2 is a topplan view thereof with the main cover member removed;

' The machine comprises twotanks 11 designed to receive the concentrateand a tank 2, arranged th'erebetween, designed to. receiv the tailings.These three tanks may only contain a small "proportion of the productsubmerged in water. A constant .water level is maintained in these tanksthus acting as a water seal against the escape of thegasesy On the rearof the machine is attached what is known as aQPachuca tank, 3, servingto agitate themixture with the gas, and properly distributing thehydrocarbon and gas through the pulp. The pulp storage tank 17, trolledby the valve 19, so that this again forms a water seal against theescape of the gas. It is, of'course, understood'that the Pachuca tank isclosed on the top. Escaping gases passage 4, and are collected at 14; bythe sue-- tion of the, pump. The-over flow from the Pachuca tank entersinto the flotation cell through the, passage 4, which is air tight,

into the hopper 5, which feeds the mixture into the bottom of the cell.At 66-6-6-6 are arranged valves to regulate the gas as it enters thecell and percolatesupwardly through the porous bottom 7 into the orepulp emerging from the same on the surface carrying with it the mineralparticles coated with the hydrocarbon. These mineral particles over flowthrough the-launders 8 and 8 into tanks 1 and 1 where two water sprays,9 (only one being down the-gas bubbles and precipitate the mineralparticles into the bottom of the tank below the water level shown at 10,

from where they may be drawn oifthrough the valved -o'utlet 11. The 'gangue or tail ings will enter through the passage 12 into the centralcompartment 2 where enough water and tailings are stored to form a waterseal against the escape of the gases. The entire machine is closed thecover 13 and at 14 a pipe connection leads the escaping gases from thePachuca tank, the flotation cell proper, and the storage tanks 1, l and2, back to the pump 15, "as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1 of thedrawing, fromthence it passes through the gas receiver 16, and throughthe porous bottonr 6 7 by way of the valved connections 6.

' agent's,

than. air; substantially excluding 'atmoscontact with the ore-mixthroughthepipe 18, con

from this tank go through the 0 shown), serve tobreak producing in themixture bubbles ca of carrying the mineral particles 0 the mass to'thesurface thereof, and'separating What I claim as my invention and desireto secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A flotation process charging a body of ore pulp containing modifylngwith a bubble-producing gas, other pher'ic air from ture and gas;withdrawing thev liberated gas from above the pulp mass; and directly"re-delivering said gas throughout the area of the pul mass. V

2.'A flotation process for' concentrating for concentrating bres, saidprocess consisting in ores, saidprocess consisting; in charging a 7 bodyof ore pulp containing modifying agents, with a bubble-producing gas,other than air; substantially excluding atmospheric air-fro1n contactwiththe ore mixtureand gas; removing the floated metalliferous particlesof the ore mass by the expelling actionof the progressively risinbubbles. below; withdrawing the liberate gas from above redeliveringsaid gas throughout the area of the pulp mass.

3, A flotation process for concentrating ores, said process consistingin charging a body of ore pulp containing a'modifymg 1 than air;substantially excluding atmospheric air from contact with the oremixture and bubble producing agent; withdrawing liberated gas from abubble-break.-

- ing-down regionabove the pulp mass; and dlrectly redelivering said gasthroughout" the area of-t he pulp mass while maintaining'theexclusion ofair from said mass.

4a A eomfibn process for concentrating ores, said process consisting,essentially, 'in gasifymga body of ore pulp to cause bub bles to formand rise through said body and carry the mineral particles thereof tothe surface excluding atmospheric air from contactwith the ore mixtureand gasif ying agent during the gasifying of the pulp;withdrawingliberated gasfrom above the pulp mass; and directlyredelivering said gas throughoutthe area ofthe pulp mass.

the pulp mass; anddirectly agent with a bubble producing agent other 5.A' flotation process for concentrating,

ores, said process consisting in mixing ore with a hydrocarbon and, gassubstantially under the exclusion of atmospheric air; and

ablq

the bubbles;.precipitating' the mineral particles from the bubbles intowater; and" stantially excluding atmospheric air from;

contact with the ore mixture and gas during the gasifying of the pulp;charging the ore mass with additional bubble-producing gas, other thanair, While maintaining the exclusion of atmospheric air therefrom andfrom the ore mass; Withdrawing the liberated gas from above the pulpmass; and directly redelivering said gas throughout the area of the pulpmass.

7. A flotation process for concentrating ores, said process consistingin charging a body of ore pulp containing modifying agents, with a gas,other than air; substantially excluding atmospheric air from contactwith the ore mixture and gas; charging the ore mass With additionalbubble, producing gas, otherthan air, While maintaining the exclusion ofatmospheric air therefrom and from the ore mass; removing the floatedmetalliferous particles of the ore mass by the expelling action of theprogressively rising bubbles below; Withdrawing the liberated gas fromabove the pulp mass; and re-deliverlng said gas as bubbles throughoutthe area of the pulp mass.

ores, said process consisting in charging a;

-the area of the 8. A flotation process for concentrating.

body of ore agents, with a bubble-producin gas,'other than air;substantially exclu ing atmospheric air from contact With the ore mix--ture and gas; removing the floated metalliferous particles of the oremass by the expelling action of the progressively rising bubbles below;precipitating the mineral particles from the bubbles in a sealed chamberand maintaining a liquid seal in said chamber; ithdrawing the liberatedgas from above the pulp mass; and redelivering said gas as bubblesthroughout pulp mass.

9. A flotation process for concentrating ores, said process consisting,essentially, in including a flotation chamber in a circuit 'closed tothe admission of'atmospheric air;

gasifying ore pulp in said chamber While excluding atmospheric air fromcontact With the ore drawing ofi liberated gases from thebubblebreaking-down region of the flotation chamber; and directlyredelivering said gases into the ore mixture throughout the areathereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- ALFRED SOHWARZ.

mixture and gasifying agent pulp containing modifying

